All good stories begin with Once upon a Time

Well after weeks of research and countless highs and lows I’m pleased to say the next chapter in my life at 63 years of age is definitely going to being with Once upon a Time as Iv been to Sawley today and been out on Once upon a time with her owners Dave and Trudy a very genuine easy to get on with couple. After a long chat over a cup of tea Dave proceeded to show me the cellar as Trudy described it and wanted me to check the engine was stone cold prior to starting. He fired her up and then showed me how easy it is to lower her pram cover single handed. Leaving the marina with Dave at the wheel we turned left on to Sawley Cutting and at the end he stood to one side and handed control to me... now considering he didn’t know me or my abilities I felt that was very trusting and before long under his guidance I was relaxed enough to actually enjoy keeping her on the correct heading. Now there’s loads of folk been telling me “fat boats swim like bricks” etc but I have to say she manoeuvred extremely well and I felt at one with her very quickly. A couple of locks and a low bridge or two and we were at Shardlow where Dave demonstrated with ease her turning ability for our trip back to Sawley. So although I’m never going to cross the Pennines in her nor am I going to go down many of our beautiful waterways I reckon this boat will live up to her name and will be the start of the next chapter in my life. I would just like to say a very big thankyou to her owners for a fantastic non pushy approach to today and equally a very big thankyou to Peterboat and Tony D for their countless help and advice without which I would still be sitting on the fence unable to make a decision. Here’s to many years of life afloat amongst all of you guys.